In recent years, percutaneous treatment and examination have been performed in which a blood vessel in the arms or legs is punctured and an introducer sheath is introduced into a puncture site so as to deliver a medical device such as a catheter to a lesion area via a lumen of the introducer sheath. In a case where these treatments and examinations are performed, an operator needs to perform hemostasis at the puncture site after the introducer sheath is removed therefrom. In order to perform hemostasis, a known hemostatic device is used which includes a band for being wrapped around a limb such as the arms and legs, securing means for securing the band in a state where the band is wrapped around the limb, and an inflation portion that interlocks with the band, and that is inflated by injecting a fluid so as to compress the puncture site.
According to such a hemostatic device, if the inflated inflation portion continues to strongly compress the puncture site and a blood vessel or a nerve around the puncture site for a long time, there is a possibility that numbness or pain may be caused or the blood vessel may be occluded. In order to prevent the vascular occlusion, a physician or a nurse generally inflates the inflation portion. Thereafter, he or she periodically connects a dedicated instrument such as a syringe to the hemostatic device, discharges a fluid contained inside the inflation portion, and performs a decompressing operation for reducing internal pressure of the inflation portion, thereby reducing the compressing force acting on the puncture site with the lapse of time.
In contrast, according to the hemostatic device disclosed in JP-A-2004-201829, the inflation portion is configured to include a material which stretches with the lapse of time. Therefore, after the inflation portion is inflated by injecting the fluid into the inflation portion, the inflation portion is gradually inflated and deformed by pressure applied from the fluid inside the inflation portion. Whereas the amount of the fluid inside the inflation portion does not substantially decrease, the volume of an internal space of the inflation portion gradually increases. Accordingly, the internal pressure of the inflation portion can be reduced with the lapse of time. In this manner, the compressing force acting on the puncture site can be reduced with the lapse of time.
According to the hemostatic device disclosed in JP-A-2004-201829, the physician or the nurse can save time and effort when performing the decompressing operation. However, if the inflation portion is configured to include the material which stretches with the lapse of time, the inflation portion is progressively inflated and deformed with the lapse of time. As a result, a thickness of the inflation portion becomes thinner. From a viewpoint of satisfactorily maintaining strength of the inflation portion, it is conceivable that the thickness of the inflation portion is preferably maintained to some extent.